Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2004 3:37 am
I am Barry Richardson and the gear in question belongs to me. It was placed during an attempt on that crack during midsummer of this past year. I stopped climbing and left the gear in because I lacked confidence in the ability of my belayer. I returned later in the fall to find the crack full of spiders and decided to come back "in a couple weeks..." In the interim, the gates went up and I respected the request of the RRGCC to wait until access issues were cleared up before returning. There is a school of thought, held by many including myself, that booty gear found on a route is free game and may be ethically removed. In the cases where this is considered ethical, it is generally assumed that the gear in question is left there by someone unable to proceed further. In this case however, I did not return to reclaim my gear because of a request by the RRGCC. I still intend to respect the RRGCC's request until I am told that they have resolved access issues to their satisfaction and that my return as a climber will not endanger their efforts. If you choose to ignore that request that is your choice and I have no public opinion on the matter. I do ask that you respect my property while you do so however.
